The Locavore's Dilemma

by Pierre Desrochers

  28 OECD, 2010. Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat. OECD http://www.oecd.org/document/31/0,3746,en_2649_37407_45999775_1_1_1_37407,00.html .

  29 For more elaborate introductions to food safety issues in the American context, see the respective webpages of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service on “Food Safety Education” http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Food_Safety_Education/index.asp; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on “Food Safety” http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/; the Partnership for Food Safety Education http://www.fightbac.org/; and the US FDA on “Food Safety” http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/default.htm.

  30 This is not to say that some herbal remedies were not effective in some cases, if only as painkillers or for their narcotic properties. It is also worth noting that some chimpanzees in Tanzania have been observed to consume more than a dozen different kinds of plants for their curative rather than nutritional properties.

  31 Heather Pringle, 1998. “The Sickness of the Mummies.” Discover 19 (12) (December), pp. 74–83.

  32 The scientist is Dr. Tim Sly of the School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada).

  33 Thomas R. DeGregori. 2001. Bountiful Harvest: Technology, Food Safety and the Environment. Cato Institute, p. 90. The molehill and mountain metaphor is borrowed from journalist William Kay’s review of an earlier version of DeGregori’s book on his personal website. William Kay. 2007. Review of Thomas R. DeGregori’s Agriculture and Modern Technology: A Defense (Iowa State University Press, 2001) http://www.ecofascism.com/review10.html .

  34 See Bruce N. Ames and Lois Swirsky Gold. 1993. “Environmental Pollution and Cancer: Some Misconceptions.” In Kenneth R. Foster, David E. Bernstein, and Peter W. Huber. Phantom Risk: Scientific Inference and the Law. MIT Press, p. 157.

  35 Most (58%) illnesses with known agents were caused by norovirus, followed by nontyphoidal Salmonella spp. (11%), Clostridium perfringens (10%), and Campylobacter spp. (9%). Leading causes of hospitalization were nontyphoidal Salmonella spp. (35%), norovirus (26%), Campylobacter spp. (15%), and Toxoplasma gondii (8%). Leading causes of death were nontyphoidal Salmonella spp. (28%), T. gondii (24%), Listeria monocytogenes (19%), and norovirus (11%). 80% of foodborne illness are attributed to unspecified agents, but again these have very little to do with herbicide and pesticide residues. For more detail, see Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Estimates of Foodborne Illness In the United States: 2011 Estimate Findings” http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html; Elaine Scallan, Robert M. Hoekstra, Frederick J. Angulo, Robert V. Tauxe, Marc-Alain Widdowson, Sharon L. Roy, Jeffery L. Jones, and Patricia M. Griffin. 2011. “Foodborne Illness Acquired in the United States—Major Pathogens» Emerging Infectious Diseases 17 (1) http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/17/1/7.htm#1; Elaine Scallan, Patricia M. Griffin, Frederick J. Angulo, Robert V. Tauxe, and Robert M. Hoekstra. 2011. “Foodborne Illness Acquired in the United States—Unspecified Agents.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 17 (1) http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/17/1/16.htm.

  36 Thomas R. DeGregori. 2001. Bountiful Harvest: Technology, Food Safety and the Environment. Cato Institute, chapters 3 and 4.

  37 For a brief introduction to the issue, see the CDC entry on raw milk at http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-index.html.

  38 For a brief history of advances in this respect in the United States in the 20th century, see EPA et al. 1999. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Safer and Healthier Foods.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 48 (40): 905–913 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4840a1.htm.

  39 Steve Ettlinger. 2007. Twinkie, Deconstructed. Hudson Street Press, pp. 129–130.

  40 The main approach in this respect is known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) See the U.S. FDA webpage on this approach at http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/hazardanalysiscriticalcontrolpointshaccp/default.htm.

  41 Dennis Avery. 2010. “Why Tolerate Deadly Food Bacteria?” Hudson Institute (October 5) http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=7398&pubType=FoodPolicy.

  42 Richard Williams, Robert L. Scharff, and David Bieler. 2010. “Food Safety in the 21st Century.” Mercatus on Policy no. 71 (February) http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/publication/MOP71_Food%20Safety_web.pdf.

  43 From the Jensen Farms website at http://www.jensenfarms.com/index.cfm/pages/view/id/8/page/ROCKY-FORD-CANTALOUPE .

  44 Source: US FDA. 2011. Information on the Recalled Jensen Farms Whole Cantaloupes, (October 21) http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/CORENet-work/ucm272372.htm .

  45 Jim Prevor. 2011. “The Cantaloupe Crisis: The Truth that Dares not Speak Its Name. The Priority can be Safe or the Priority can be Local, but It cannot be Both.” Perishable Pundit (October 4) http://www.perishablepundit.com/index.php?article=2664.

  46 Leigh Goessl. 2011. “Organic Shell Eggs Recalled Due to Salmonella.” Digital Journal (October 24) http://digitaljournal.com/article/313273.

  47 This paragraph was adapted from Rod Smith. 2010. “Cage Housing Tie to Egg Recall Shorts Truth.” Feedstuffs (August 26). http://www.feedstuffs.com/ME2/Segments/NewsHeadlines/Print.asp?Module=News&id=769A8979B98349AE8CEAB44119D8E3FF .

  48 D. Worsfold, P.M Worsfold and C.J. Griffith. 2004. “An Assessment of Food Safety and Hygiene at Farmers’ Markets.” International Journal of Environmental Health Research 14 (2): 109-119, p. 109.

  49 Uwe Spiekermann. 2010. “Dangerous Meat? German-American Quarrels over Pork and Beef, 1870-1900.” Bulletin of the German Historical Institute 46 (Spring): 93–110 p. 99.

  50 Gardener’s Chronicle, Horticultural Trade Journal, Volume 78, October 17, 1925. The Garderner’s Chronicle was a British publication that has since been incorporated in Horticulture Week. Quoted in Ruth deForest Lamb. 1936. American Chamber of Horrors. The Truth about Food and Drugs. Farrar & Rinehart, p. 207.

  51 Ronald Bailey. 2006. “Don’t Panic over Spinach.” Reason.com (September 29) http://reason.com/archives/2006/09/29/dont-panic-over-spinach .

  52 Robert Paalberg. 2010. “Attention Whole Food Shoppers.” Foreign Policy (May/June) http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/26/attention_whole_foods_shoppers?page=full.

  Chapter 7

  1 See, among others, Thomas Hudson Middleton. 1923. Food Production in War. Clarendon Press, p. 324.

  2 Katherine Kemp, Andrea Insch, David K. Holdsworth and John G. Knight. 2010. “Food Miles: Do UK Consumers Actually Care?” Food Policy 35 (6): 504-513.

  3 See, among others, Chantal Blouin, Jean-Frédéric Lemay, Kausar Ashraf, Jane Imai and Lazar Konforti. 2009. Local Food Systems and Public Policy: A Review of the Literature. Équiterre and The Center for Trade Policy and Law (Carleton University) http://www.ctpl.ca/publications/occasional-papers/local-food-systems-and-public-policy-review-literature; American Planning Association. 2007. Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning. American Planning Association http://www.planning.org/policy/guides/adopted/food.htm; and Wayne Caldwell, AnnelizaCollett, Therese Ludlow, Ian Sinclair and Jenny Whitehead. 2011. Planning and Food Security within the Commonwealth: Discussion Paper. Commonwealth Association of Planners http://www.commonwealth-planners.org/papers/food.pdf.

  4 For a brief introduction to this issue, see Robert L. Schuettinger and Eamonn F. Butler. 1979. Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls: How Not to Fight Inflation. The Heritage Foundation http://mises.org/books/fortycenturies.pdf.Unless otherwise specified, the illustrations discussed in this sub-section were taken from this source.

  5 For a more detailed discussion of these measures from a sympathetic perspective, see Frederic Mousseau. 2010. The High Food Price Challenge: A Review of Responses to Combat Hunger. Oakland Institute http://media.oaklandinsti-tute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/high_food_prices_web_final.pdf See also FAO (Trade and Markets Division). 2009. The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets. High Food Prices and the Food Crisis—Experiences and Les
sons Learned. FAO http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0854e/i0854e00.htm.

  6 OECD. 2010. Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries at a Glance. OECD. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/0/45539870.pdf For a much more elaborate discussion of the issue, see Kym Anderson (editor). 2009. Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: A Global Perspective, 1955-2007. Palgrave Macmillan and World Bank.

  7 E. C. Pasour, Jr.’s and Randall R. Rucker. 2005. Plowshares and Pork Barrels: The Political Economy of Agriculture. The Independent Institute, p. 308.

  8 Robert Paarlberg. 2010. Food Politics. What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, p. 86.

  9 For the European Union’s official stance on the CAP and description of recent reforms, see http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capexplained/index_en.htm.

  10 Caroline Boin. 2008. “Free Trade can Stop World Food Crisis turning into Tragedy.” The Scotsman (April 19) http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/top-stories/Free-trade-can-stop-world.3999431.jp.

  11 Michael Pollan. 2008. “Farmer in Chief.” New York Times Magazine (October 9) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html.

  12 For a discussion of the recent evolution of national food reserves, see Global Food Markets Group. 2010. The 2007/08 Agricultural Price Spikes: Causes and Policy Implications. DEFRA http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/pdf/ag-price100105.pdf.

  13 See, among others, Robert Bailey. 2011. Growing a Better Future: Food Justice in a Resource-Constrained World. Oxfam International, p. 46 http://www.oxfam.org/en/grow/reports/growing-better-future.

  14 IRIN (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). 2008. “Niger: Are Cereal Banks the Best Option to Fight Hunger?” IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis (October 16) http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?Re-portId=80953.

  15 For a discussion of strategic grain reserves between the early 1970s and mid-1990s, see John Lynton-Evans. 1997. Strategic Grain Reserves - Guidelines for their establishment, management and operation. FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin—126 http://www.fao.org/docrep/w4979e/w4979e00.htm.

  16 Evan D. G. Fraser and Andrew Rimas. 2010. Empires of Food. Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Free Press, pp. 66–67.

  17 The Food Corporation of India is a government entity charged with providing effective price support to farmers, distributing foodgrains to the public and maintaining buffer stocks of food grains to ensure food security. See its website at http://fciweb.nic.in/.

  18 Rupashree Nanda. 2010. “One-Third of India’s Food Reserves Left to Rot.” CNN-IBN Live (July 25) http://ibnlive.in.com/news/onethird-of-indias-food-reserves-left-to-rot/127434-3.html.

  19 See, among others, William Harte. 1764. Essays on Husbandry. W. Frederick, p. 116 http://books.google.com/books?id=DaI1AAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s; Anne Robert Jacques Turgot. 1770. “Seventh Letter [on the Grain Trade].” In David Gordon (editor). 2011. The Turgot Collection. Writings, Letters and Speeches of Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune. Ludwig von Mises Institute, p. 240 http://mises.org/books/turgot_collection_turgot.pdf; and Edmund Burke. 1840/1795. Thoughts and Details on Scarcity. F. and C. Rivington, p. 28 http://books.google.com/books?id=DUgJAAAAQAAJ&hl=fr&output=text&source=gbs_navlinks_s For a more recent overview, see Cormac Ó Gráda. 2009. Famine. A Short History. Princeton University Press.

  20 Louis Torfs. 1839. Fastes des calamités publiques survenues dans les Pays-Bas et particulièrement en Belgique, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’à nos jours. Casterman, pp. 238–239 http://books.google.com/books?id=W1ZbAAAAQAAJ&hl=fr&source=gbs_navlinks_s For recent historical scholarship on the effectiveness of some past European and Chinese granaries, see, among others, Olivier Zeller. 1989. “Politique frumentaire et rapports sociaux à Lyon, 1772-1776.” Histoire, Économie et Société 8 (2): 249–286 http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/hes_0752-5702_1989_num_8_2_2368; and Carol H. Shiue. 2004. “Local Granaries and Central Government Disaster Relief: Moral Hazard and Intergovernmental Finance in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century China.” Journal of Economic History 64 (1):100–124.

  21 William Harte. 1764. Essays on Husbandry. W. Frederick, p. 51 (adapted to modern English by the writers) http://books.google.com/books?id=DaI1AAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s.

  22 Joachim von Braun and Maximo Torero. 2009. Implementing Physical and Virtual Food Reserves to Protect the Poor and Prevent Market Failure. IFPRI Policy Brief 10 http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/bp010.pdf.

  23 See the IATP’s Global Observatory on Food Reserves http://www.tradeobservatory.org/issue_foodSecurity.cfm.

  24 STWR Brief. 2009. Global Food Reserves—Framing the Context for a New Multilateralism (October) http://www.stwr.org/food-security-agriculture/global-food-reserves-a-key-step-towards-ending-hunger.html.

  25 Grassroots International and National Family Farm Coalition. 2008. An Open Letter to Congress on the Need for Strategic Grain Reserves (April 28) http://www.grassrootsonline.org/news/articles/open-letter-congress-need-strategic-grain-reserves.

  26 For a more detailed introduction and criticism of these various forms of government-sponsored food reserves, see Brian Wright. 2009. International Grain Reserves and Other Instruments to Address Volatility in Grain Markets. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5028, World Bank http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&theSitePK=477916&piPK=64165421&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000158349_20090825154655; and Global Food Markets Group. 2010. The 2007/08 Agricultural Price Spikes: Causes and Policy Implications. DEFRA http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/pdf/ag-price100105.pdf.

  27 FAO (Trade and Markets Division). 2009. The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets. High Food Prices and the Food Crisis—Experiences and Lessons Learned. FAO http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0854e/i0854e00.htm; See also, among others, Siddharta Mitra and Tim Josling. 2009. Agricultural Export Restrictions: Welfare Implications and Trade Disciplines. IPC Position Paper Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Series. International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council http://www.agritrade.org/documents/ExportRestric-tions_final.pdf.

  28 Cormac Ó Gráda. 2009. Famine. A Short History.Princeton University Press, p. 138.

  29 William Harte. 1764. Essays on Husbandry. W. Frederick, p. 52 (adapted to modern English by the writers) http://books.google.com/books?id=DaI1AAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s According to the historian Peter Garnsey, Athens and Rome were the exception rather the rule in the Ancient World, at least inasmuch as the rulers of other cities did not object to food exports in good times as it brought them increased revenues. Peter Garnsey. 1988. Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World: Responses to Risk and Crisis. Cambridge University Press, chapter 5.

  30 Arthur Young. 1792. Travels in France during the Years 1787,1788, 1789. George Bell and Sons, chapter 2 (unpaginated version available at http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Young/yngTFCover.html).

  31 Benjamin Franklin. 1774. “Principles of Trade.” Reprint in Jared Sparks (ed.) 1836. The Works of Benjamin Franklin, volume 2. Hilliard, Gray and Company: 383-409, pp. 407-409 http://books.google.ca/books?id=IvE_AAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s.

  32 See, among others, Siddharta Mitra and Tim Josling. 2009. Agricultural Export Restrictions: Welfare Implications and Trade Disciplines. IPC Position Paper Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Series. International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council http://www.agritrade.org/documents/ExportRestrictions_final.pdf.

  33 Quoted in Bernard Lugongo. 2010. “Debate on Food Export Ban Continues.” The Citizen (November 29) http://thecitizen.co.tz/business/13-local-business/5957-debate-on-food-export-ban-continues.html.

  34 Global Food Markets Group. 2010. The 2007/08 Agricultural Price Spikes: Causes and Policy Implications. DEFRA, p.11 http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/pdf/ag-price100105.pdf ; See also Derek Headey. 2011. “Rethinking the Global Food Crisis: The Role of Trade Shocks.” Food Policy 36 (2): 136-146.

  35 E-mail correspondence with Gary Blumenthal of World Perspe
ctives, Inc., December 2011.

  36 Similar schemes were also in existence for a long time in advanced economies ranging from Canada to New Zealand.

  37 William O. Jones. 1987. “Food-Crop Marketing Boards in Africa.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 25 (3): 375–402.

  38 For a more detailed survey of the impact of commodity marketing boards on less developed economies, see Lee R. Martin. 1991. A Survey of Agricultural Economics Literature, volume 4: Agriculture in Economic Development 1940s—1990s. University of Minnesota Press, especially pp. 44–48 .

  39 Edward R. Cook, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Brendan M. Buckley, Rosanne D. D’Arrigo, Gordon C. Jacoby and William E. Wright. 2010. “Asian Monsoon Failure and Megadrought during the Last Millennium.” Science 328 (5977): 486–489.

  40 Robert L. Schuettinger and Eamonn F. Butler. 1979. Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls: How Not to Fight Inflation. The Heritage Foundation, pp. 33-34 http://mises.org/books/fortycenturies.pdf.

  41 William Wilson Hunter. 1871. The Annals of Rural Bengal, fourth edition. Smith, Elder and Co, pp. 43–46 http://books.google.ca/books?id=yEoOAAAAQAAJ&dq=related:OCLC19227940&source=gbs_navlinks_s.

  42 Mark Bittman. 2011. “Don’t End Agricultural Subsidies, Fix Them.” Opiniator (The New York Times) (March 1) http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/dont-end-agricultural-subsidies-fix-them/ .

  43 Adam Smith. 1776. An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Volume II, Book 4, Chapter 8, Conclusion of the Mercantile System http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Fti-tle=200&chapter=217484&layout=html&Itemid=27 .

  44 Fonterra’s website can be found at http://www.fonterra.com/wps/wcm/connect/fonterracom/fonterra.com For assessments of the environmental impacts of agricultural trade liberalization in New Zealand, see OECD. 1996. The Environmental Effect of Removing Agricultural Subsidies: Case Study of New Zealand. OECD COM/AGR/CA/ENV/EPOC (96), p. 119 and Willie Smith and Hayden Montgomery. 2003. “Revolution or Evolution? New Zealand Agriculture since 1984.” GeoJournal 59 (2): 107–118 for a somewhat more critical analysis.